Scribe: Charles Hendricks Convener: Nabila Nanji
Location: Artful Dodger Time: 12:15pm
Attendees: developers, politicians, architects, citizens: Nabila Nanji, Charles Hendricks, Derik Trissel, Karl Shank, Larry Hoover, Pete Bsumek, Mickey Arefaine, Sheree Boland, Josie Henning, Phill Henning, Johann Zimmerman, Benjamin Meredith, Anne Lorimer, Tip Parker, Travis Layman, Randy Jones
What can we do to get developers to implement sustainable strategies?
Green building programs that are available for builders
Earthcraft Virginia
Energy Star
LEED
Allows a framework for builders to measure how green their building is, they have 3rd party verification, yes you are building to this standard or you need to improve in this way.
Is it more expensive to go green – depends on where you are starting? There are many local builders that are all ready meeting the standards, but don’t know more about the system. It does not cost more to use the system. There are many people that are willing to pay more for certain systems to be used to get a feedback.
Habitat House has an added cost of around $3000 per house to achieve earthcraft certification. It is not a substantial added cost. The monthly payments may be higher, but the energy cost are lower. Why are we letting consumers buy houses that are more expensive that are bad for the environment.
The education issue is what is needed to allow for the public to make better choices. The public will demand it and the government will then demand it.
We need to create “place”. Many cities don’t consider the spaces between people. How do we inhabit a public space if we are not creating any public spaces. We are just building structures with no consideration to the areas around the building. You can create a street as a place and a courtyard as a place.
Richard: smart growth is a bad term. What is the difference with the type of growth that is needed in Harrisonburg? There is an expanded zoning ordinance in Harrisonburg that tries to encourage positive development. Some of it has been on the books for a number of years. The economic downturn and a flood of inventory has slowed down seeing the results of these changes. Why do we have a system of oddly formed residential developments in Harrisonburg. We encouraged it. We limited the number of units in our buildings, we limited where the use could be. The map dictated the profit and controlled the cramming process of putting the inventory in oddly shaped laid out buildings through our zoning ordinance. The result is the older development community that does not like change. They are worried that they cannot make money in the new model. They don’t want risk through innovation. We need to be open to change. Smart growth is about planning for and encouraging the type of development that you want. Everyone is for “smart growth”. Having a conviction to say no to the things that are not working or don’t do what you need them to do – that is true smart growth. You have to be willing to say No. There has traditionally been a lack of willingness to look at the problem and say NO.
Eugene: If we create place, people will pay more to live in a nice place.
Developers sometime will not be open to these new concepts. They want a sure thing.
Civil engineers often design the planning, but don’t understand urban planning.
Is there a way to encourage the developers to do better developments?
Zoning and land use plans matter. We have more land zoned and planned for a certain type of development than we really needed. How do we deal with property rights? How can we stop bad zoning that already exists? If the property is not already zoned that way, you can then hold them to a higher standard. There has been a resistance to stopping the big guys because they are needed to keep the economic engine moving forward. There was a lack of willingness to enforce issues on the smaller developer that were not forced on larger developers.
Ordinance on street café’s in the city: it was in a grey zone. The city passed an ordinance that encourages cafés within the city. You need to work with community development in order to get them to happen. Because it was officially encouraged – they are now popping up. Young developers will know they can make more money if they are shown through council encouragement.
Builders association – smart growth community discussion has happened. There is an issue with lack of wanting to change.
Does the value stand up over time if you develop a better community that offers open space. Is there a way to get local banks to fund these better solutions?
What are the solutions? Is there a way to move in the right direction.
Does there have to be incentive programs to make it happen?
The local zoning ordinances exist in Harrisonburg that will make these developments happen. In order to provide the appropriate green space, you can now increase your density. You have to present green space options to achieve these bonuses.
You have to give the property owner some economic incentive to get the developers to do the right things.
We need the city of Harrisonburg to commit to reducing the carbon footprint of the city. We need a city position that focuses on this issue. The sierra club is encouraging the city to appoint a committee to look at these issues. If we create this kind of committee, then we can look at real time solutions that can make a positive change in the future. This can be the step forward to make these changes happen. Our goal is to have the first meeting a year from now. This is the perfect opportunity to make a real change.
The last update of the comp plan had all these concepts in the plan. The election cycle changed the energy behind the movement. We began to give developers more flexibility. The implementation of the expansion ordinances passed with no issue. The implementation of limiting development was road blocked. There needed to be a way to be “fair” to the development community. A special use permit is now required, delayed implementation by three years. This incentivized those with properties that met the criteria to move forward quickly. There is probably only 1 undeveloped plot of land that still exists now.
Are we now over built when it comes to student housing? Many new housing units are coming into the market. There is a projected growth of JMU by 20% over the next several years. There is a demand for a variety of housing at various levels.
Density is important to create good development, but that does not equal sprawl. Urban exchange is a good example of how this can happen.
End of this year into next year, the next round of updating the comp plan is happening. You have a majority of council that is pushing to use that as a meaningful guide. Show up at the meetings, speak about the issues that are important.
You have to hold the public officials to the plan, participate in the creation of the plan, and then you can see results that you want to see. This is the way to make change.
We need a citizen group that meets regularly to discuss these issues. Healthy community council already exists. It is about a healthy community. This group does not stop at the borders. There is a call for citizen action. We need to hold our leaders to account. Can it be a commission sanctioned by the political body.
Can we use existing organizations to fill this role? Neighborhood associations that are meaningful organizations. Grass roots ideas can be vetted at the neighborhood level. Finding the right people to talk to and breaking down the lack of communication between organizations is the difficult issue. We need to create an organization / way / mindset of open communication.
